By John Huggan
Starting only four days after the final round of the Masters, the Austrian Open likely won’t attract many of European golf’s biggest names. But news that the event—won last year by Scotland’s Marc Warren—will return to the European Tour, April 15-18, is a welcome boost for the currently beleaguered circuit. Late last week European Tour chief executive Keith Pelley was forced to announce the postponement of the Portugal Masters, as well as a reshuffling of next month’s schedule.

As things now stand, the €1 million Austrian event will fill the slot recently vacated by the Tenerife Open, which takes the place of the Portugal Masters (April 29-May 2), one week after the Gran Canaria Lopesan Open.

“Throughout the pandemic, we have had to be agile with our scheduling, and today’s announcement is another example of that,” Pelley said in a press release. “We are naturally grateful to Diamond Country Club and the Austrian Golf Federation for once again helping us to continue to provide a full schedule and playing opportunities for our members. Diamond Country Club [located just outside Vienna and hosting the Austrian Open for the 11th consecutive year] is obviously a venue that we know very well, and we look forward to returning there next month.”

In the longer term, however, things are not looking quite so cheery for the Old World circuit. With a third wave of COVID-19 already sweeping the European continent, the future is at best uncertain with regard to travel. Right now, the tour is down to visit France immediately after Tenerife, England just before the PGA Championship, Denmark, Germany and Sweden before the U.S. Open, then Germany, Ireland and Scotland before the Open Championship in England. That’s a lot of countries and, unfortunately for Pelley and his members, a lot of governments and different regulations to deal with.

The post European Tour replaces dropped tournament with Austrian Open appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

1. Lee Westwood In Abu Dhabi

Ahhh, January. Remember how easy life was way back then. Lee Westwood made golf look simple too, most of the time anyway, en-route to a 25th European Tour title at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship to become just the third player to win on tour in four decades after Mark McNulty and Des Smyth. Lucas Herbert’s playoff win in Dubai was dramatic, Graeme McDowell’s Saudi triumph rather romantic. But Westwood’s lesson in longevity won Abu Dhabi the Desert Swing. We wonder now what Westy’s defence will look like.

[divider] [/divider]

2. Great To Be Back

Four months after the season was suspended in Qatar, the European Tour returned to action at Diamond Country Club in Atzenbrugg near Vienna. It has been a fraught wait and the Austrian Open rather fitting crowned Marc Warren champion. It was a fourth European Tour title after the sweet-swinging Scot’s own long wait – six years – since his previous win.

It was low key but absolutely brilliant to be back.

[divider] [/divider]

3. The UK Swing

The European Tour went back to its roots with a hastily-arranged, six-event UK Swing that was an unexpected bonus for lovers of “traditional” golf. The geographically-clustered swing was, as CEO Keith Pelley sign-posted at the time, a “glimpse into the future” and we are down with that. If we had one wish for the future it would be the promotion of courses like Sunningdale in the magical Surrey/Berkshire sand-belt. Wishful thinking maybe but hey, who would have thought a few months ago that a face mask would be an essential piece of golfing kit? If 2020 has taught us anything, it’s how we suddenly treasure the pleasures of great things from our past.

Sam Horsefield galloped away with a pair of UK Swing wins but for us it was Rasmus Højgaard’s triumph at the ISPS Handa UK Championship (pictured) that got us all emotional. More specifically it was the return to the Brabazon course at the Belfry that had us romanticising glories of Ryder Cups past. Sure, time and technology has moved on but here was proof why we shouldn’t totally dismiss tradition.

We’ve had a soft spot for Andy Sullivan ever since the genial Englishman won a space flight as a hole-in-one prize at the 2014 KLM Open and promptly turned it down.  “I’m thinking, if anything happens to the pilot, I’m in charge and that’s not a position I want to be in. So I’ve put the mother-in-law up for that one,” Sullivan joked in a Golf Channel interview two years later. We loved Sully’s seven-stroke win at Hanbury Manor and didn’t his post-victory video link-up with the family after the English Championship epitomise how even celebrating has changed in the era of COVID. The laughter, and tears, flowed after a near-five year wait for his fourth European Tour title. “It was just the people that have missed this win, my brother-in-law was only 24 and he was taken from us. so it’s quite emotional for him not to witness it. It means quite a lot for me to do it for him today, and a good friend of mine has passed as well. It’s nice for my family, to win for my little boy who is only two years old, it’s just nice for him to see Daddy being successful.” How cool is golf.

[divider] [/divider]

Englishman Garrick Porteous hits from the hay on the 16th hole during the final round of the Scottish Championship presented by AXA at Fairmont St Andrews

4. The Home Of Golf

With the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship canned, it was a bonus to return to St. Andrews for some links luvviness at the  new Scottish Championship presented by AXA – especially as we’d been robbed of the season’s ultimate (links) highlight, the 149th Open at Royal St. George’s. It was doubly sweet that Adrian Otaegui, with his Dubai-links, won on the Fairmont course. With that said, here’s a memo to Keith Pelley rescheduling, along the line of our earlier Sunningdale plea: How about events at gems old and new like Royal Dornock, Cruden Bay, Nairn, Western Giles, Machrihanish and North Berwick? If you really want to appeal to the purist, head back to Prestwick. We know, we know, the original home of the Open would be embarrassed by today’s big-boofers. But would it really if the weather gods were alerted? Hey, it’s been a tough year. Let us dream on.

Adrian Otaegui (Spain) tees off on the 14th hole en-route to victory

[divider] [/divider]

5. Golf In Dubai Championship

We’ve loved some of the new destinations added to the reimagined Race to Dubai schedule, the double-header at Aphrodite Hills with those breath-taking Cyprus vistas a fresh case-in-point. But for those of us who regularly golf the UAE, the exposé of Greg Norman’s Fire course at Jumeirah Golf Estates will be a special treat. More than a few believe it is a stronger design than Earth. Whatever your opinion, the 11-days at JGE culminating in the DP World Tour Championship are sure to provide a dramatic ending to this unthinkable year, a European Tour season that hasn’t turned out so bad after all.

The post Five reasons why the COVID-complicated European Tour season wasn’t so bad after all appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.